There's been no shortage of criticism surrounding the College Football postseason - even the President-elect threw in his two cents - but there's no denying the bowl season still generates a huge amount of viewer interest.

In the metered markets, Oklahoma City had the highest local rating, with 51.7% of the Sooners' home DMA tuning into the game. Five local Florida markets also made the top ten, led by Jacksonville with a 40.2 local rating.

Top 10 Local Markets HH Rating 1/8/09

BCS National Championship

Market

HH Rating

Oklahoma City

51.7

Tulsa

46.9

Birmingham

41.6

Jacksonville

40.2

Tampa-St. Pete (Sarasota)

32.3

Orlando-Daytona Bch-Melbrn

30.6

Austin

29.9

West Palm Beach-Ft. Pierce

29.5

Ft. Myers-Naples

28.2

Source: 2009 The Nielsen Company

Viewership for the other four BCS bowls was also up compared to last year. The Fiesta Bowl between Ohio State and Texas was up 40%, the Sugar Bowl was up 14%, and viewership for the Rose Bowl increased 8%.

Outside the BCS, the positive trend continued with 17 of 27 bowls outperforming last year's ratings. Most notable were four bowl games airing on ESPN that boasted triple-digit increases in viewership:

The Humanitarian Bowl between Maryland and Nevada was seen by 3 million viewers, a whopping 218% increase over last year's game.

The Hawaii Bowl was proof that Notre Dame still can still deliver a large audience (and a victory), in front of 4.4 million viewers up 119% over last year's game.

The Poinsettia Bowl on Dec.23 and the GMAC Bowl on Jan. 6 showed that there is demand for Bowls well before and after New Year's, sporting 115% and 113% increases in viewers, respectively.

Below is a full recap of national viewers for this year's bowl games.

2008-9 College Football Bowl Game National Viewers

BOWL

NETWORK

MATCHUP

VIEWERS P2+

% Change YAGO

BCS TITLE

FOX

OKLAHOMA/FLORIDA

26,767,000

16%

ROSE

ABC

PENN STATE/USC

20,603,000

8%

FIESTA

FOX

TEXAS/OHIO STATE

17,056,000

40%

SUGAR

FOX

UTAH/ALABAMA

13,369,000

14%

CAPITAL ONE

ABC

GEORGIA/MICHIGAN STATE

10,839,000

-27%

ORANGE

FOX

VIRGINIA TECH/CINCINNATI

9,319,000

-22%

CHAMPS SPORTS

ESPN

WISCONSIN/FLORIDA STATE

7,059,000

51%

GATOR

CBS

NEBRASKA/CLEMSON

6,603,000

64%

EMERALD

ESPN

MIAMI (FL)/CALIFORNIA

6,508,000

40%

COTTON

FOX

MISSISSIPPI/TEXAS TECH

6,407,000

13%

HOLIDAY

ESPN

OKLAHOMA ST/OREGON

6,220,000

9%

ALAMO

ESPN

MISSOURI/NORTHWESTERN

6,076,000

59%

MEINEKE CAR CARE

ESPN

WEST VIRGINIA/NORTH CAROLINA

5,881,000

26%

CHICK-FIL-A

ESPN

LSU/GEORGIA TECH

5,635,000

-25%

POINSETTIA

ESPN

BOISE STATE/TCU

5,061,000

115%

HAWAII

ESPN

HAWAII/NOTRE DAME

4,413,000

119%

OUTBACK

ESPN

SOUTH CAROLINA/IOWA

4,093,000

-10%

MUSIC CITY

ESPN

BOSTON COLLEGE/VANDERBILT

3,646,000

-31%

LIBERTY

ESPN

KENTUCKY/EAST CAROLINA

3,607,000

-33%

SUN

CBS

OREGON ST/PITTSBURGH

3,475,000

9%

MOTOR CITY

ESPN

FLORIDA ATLANTIC/CENTRAL MICH

3,437,000

1%

NEW MEXICO

ESPN

COLORADO ST/FRESNO ST

3,432,000

46%

LAS VEGAS

ESPN

BYU/ARIZONA

3,389,000

0%

HUMANITARIAN

ESPN

MARYLAND/NEVADA

3,039,000

218%

EAGLEBANK

ESPN

WAKE FOREST/NAVY

2,875,000

NEW

GMAC

ESPN

BALL STATE/TULSA

2,831,000

113%

INTERNATIONAL

ESPN2

BUFFALO/CONNECTICUT

2,670,000

36%

PAPAJOHNS.COM

ESPN

N.C. STATE/RUTGERS

2,372,000

-14%

ARMED FORCES

ESPN

HOUSTON/AIR FORCE

2,050,000

-21%

ST. PETERSBURG

ESPN2

MEMPHIS/SOUTH FLORIDA

1,661,000

NEW

INDEPENDENCE

ESPN

NORTHERN ILLINOIS/LA TECH

1,207,000

-53%

NEW ORLEANS

ESPN

SOUTHERN MISS/TROY

1,115,000

-48%

INSIGHT

NFLN

KANSAS/MINNESOTA

731,000

5%

TEXAS

NFLN

WESTERN MICHIGAN/RICE

186,000

-64%

Source: 2009 The Nielsen Company

Covereage Area Estimates (% of US TV Homes): ESPN 86%, ESPN2 85%, NFLN 37%. Live + Same Day Viewing